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I see a lot of articles in the media mentioning new bat species and adding references in the articles or the titles linking bats to coronavirus [The links in ref1 at the bottom are just some samples]. Although not all of them mention explicitly the COVID-19 strain the mention is quite enough to reinforce less reliable sources which link bats to the epidemic. A lot of the articles also mention that the scientific community believes bats are the origin of the epidemic, however the only source I found online [ref2] mentions that although coronavirus is common in bats it is likely that the COVID-19 strain was transmitted by another animal host. A few month old article [ref3] cites a Chinese study identifying the pangolin as the animal source, but chances seem pretty slim, the pangolin is protected, some people consume it illegally, but the actual number of contacts is small.

Are there scientific studies comparing the odds of transmission from different animal sources? Are there studies taking into account the huge pig farms in the area? (In that period to hide the infections of foot-and-mouth disease a lot of dead animals were disposed of in an unsanitary manner).

BTW in the title I wrote consensus instead of evidence because I am aware that no study could be so advanced to reach the level of evidence, however the repetition of the idea of consensus in the media is enough to fuel sources at the level of conspiracy theory.

Ref1:
https://edition.cnn.com/2020/04/22/world/leaf-nosed-bats-discovery-scn/index.html

https://www.msn.com/en-us/video/animals/new-bat-species-discovered-are-cousins-to-ones-linked-to-covid-19/vi-BB1339uR

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-8245065/Four-species-bat-discovered-Africa-sisters-species-COVID-19-originated.html

https://www.foxnews.com/science/newly-discovered-bat-species-are-cousins-of-those-linked-to-coronavirus

Ref 2:
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/03/200317175442.htm

Ref 3:
https://www.euronews.com/2020/02/21/covid-19-latest-korea-confirms-204-cases-of-coronavirus-after-church-outbreak

FluidCode
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  • Related: ["The proximal origin of SARS-CoV-2"](https://dx.doi.org/10.1038%2Fs41591-020-0820-9) (2020-03-17). – Nat Apr 27 '20 at 12:50
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    The issue with the [bat->human] versus [bat->another host->human] is that no-one here is claiming a direct [bat->human] jump. – Oddthinking Apr 27 '20 at 13:49
  • @Oddthinking Please before changing a question read it and at least try and understand what is being asked. The changed you made ended up creating a question asking something for which there is no scientific evidence and we already know it – FluidCode Apr 27 '20 at 15:17
  • I liked more the other title: Did SARS-CoV-2 originate in bats? – I likeThatMeow Apr 27 '20 at 15:18
  • I'd ask *"Are there scientific studies comparing the odds of transmission from different animal sources?"* on medsci or biology. Seems there'd be technical commentary that can be given on one of those sites. –  Apr 27 '20 at 15:20
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    @fredsbend Articles in the media state "The scientific community believe that ..." So no article refers to a scientific study, It seems designed to make claim difficult to verify, I can't say for sure. But the question is addressed to those article, the existence of scientific studies was not claimed. – FluidCode Apr 27 '20 at 15:24
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    @FluidCode: Please, before reverting an edit (actually two edits by different people) try to understand why it was edited into a question about a specific claim. – Oddthinking Apr 27 '20 at 15:36
  • @Oddthinking It seems that you want to let people ask question about unexisting science, but you don't want to let people ask questions about mainstream media claims. – FluidCode Apr 27 '20 at 15:39
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    @FluidCode: I did read it. I did try to understand it. Then I (and Nat) tried to turn it into a question that was more easily understandable. At the moment, it is a bit of a mishmash of ideas. – Oddthinking Apr 27 '20 at 15:39
  • @Oddthinking No. Asking about something never proved is different from asking about media claims. – FluidCode Apr 27 '20 at 15:40
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    Be specific. Choose one mainstream media claim. Quote it. Ask if it is true. – Oddthinking Apr 27 '20 at 15:40
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    Just to clarify: COVID-19 is a disease (COronaVIrus Disease '19) caused by the virus SARS-CoV-2. Consequently, covid doesn't and cannot have a strain. – bishop Apr 27 '20 at 17:56
  • @bishop COVID-19 is a strain of coronavirus. – FluidCode Apr 27 '20 at 18:56
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    @FluidCode: Their point's that COVID-19 is a condition that can be caused by the virus SARS-CoV-2. Still, Oddthinking's recommendation is the thing to focus on here: choose one mainstream claim, quote it, and ask if it's true. – Nat Apr 27 '20 at 19:33
  • I see the usual lawyers making fuss about the details to block a question. But the question cannot refer to specific claims because journalists have been (may I assume on purpose) vague. – FluidCode Apr 27 '20 at 19:38
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    @FluidCode: Eh... honestly, it's your question that comes off as vague. Which isn't to suggest that you're doing anything intentionally wrong, just, there's communication difficulty that we're trying to resolve. Directly quoting something would seem helpful in resolving that communication difficulty. – Nat Apr 27 '20 at 19:40
  • Just to close this off - [COVID-19 is NOT a strain of a virus.](https://www.thecourier.com.au/story/6686711/what-is-the-coronavirus-the-differences-between-coronavirus-covid-19-and-sars-cov-2-explained/). @Bishop was right. – Oddthinking May 05 '20 at 11:27
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    If you can't find anyone (doesn't have to be journalists, anyone notable) making a claim, we have to assume it isn't widely believed. In this case, it still isn't clear what the claim is. You can blame "lawyers" trying to "block the question", or you can fix the question. – Oddthinking May 05 '20 at 11:28

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